Death in the Family
by Dextolan
Summary: The team struggles to cope after one of their own is killed in what they called "a mugging gone wrong." But is that team member really gone?... (Major Character death)
1. 23 dollars

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)**

 **Oh God...what am I doing...**

 **Okay, so you probably already realise this from the description, but yes, there will be a MAJOR character death. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd actually do this.**

 **You've all been warned and if this is not for you that's fine, don't read anymore, (but please give the first chapter a chance because I have so much planned and it's not all bad.) all I ask is that if you don't like it don't leave comments about wanting to hunt me down for what I've done...it was an idea I had and I thought I should share it :D This is just a fanfic, no one is actually dead.**

 **This will be Reid-centric and a tiny bit AT.**

 **I took inspiration from the film 'Fluke' which I watched as a child and it had a really big impact on me (you guys should watch it.)**

 **Oh, and I won't leave you in suspense, said character will die in approximately...5 lines?**

 **Please review (go easy on me.)**

 **And...I usually say enjoy, but I have a feeling you won't...**

* * *

He didn't know when he slipped away.

Was it on the 3rd...or the 5th?

No, it had to be the 8th.

He didn't realise he'd been counting, or in fact that he stopped; truly stopped. When that magnificent brain of his forgot how to function, despite its eidetic memory. When his brimming heart leaked from where the knife had punctured and gave out weakly.

 _It was number 14. It had to be._ He couldn't recall counting any further. He couldn't recall anything. His mind folded in on itself as it died; locking away his memories from the outside world; impenetrable. His limbs, once agitated by fear and the tiniest sliver of hope, stilled, giving in to the body's will.

His eyes had fluttered closed on the 6th...or was it the 9th?

They never opened again.

* * *

The mugger kept pushing his knife into the flesh and cringing at the squelching sound as he twisted it out and plunged it back in. He had to be sure. He'd lost count 5 minutes ago. The man...no boy, beneath him, had been still for a while.

He withdrew his knife, stabbing it anywhere where there was a gap of unmarked flesh. It was amazing how something so lifeless could bleed so much.

Blood. Blood everywhere. It glued his fingers to the knife and created a lake around him. Each time he stabbed the boy, his hands would slap against the wet sticky substance that had long since soaked through the young man's shirt, that was now filled with holes.

He pushed the knife in one last time, pressing his whole weight against it and growling in exhaustion.

He lent back into the river of blood that was creating a steady stream down the alleyway. He wiped his nose and grabbed the one thing he'd come for; the wallet.

He tore it open and unzipped the cash compartment. Two ten dollar bills and three ones were all he found. He searched for a card or anything he could use but came up empty. He yanked out the money, seeing as it was the reason why he'd even attacked the kid. He threw the wallet down into the blood.

He started checking the boy's pockets searching for anything he could sell. His eyes swept past the gun and they widened eagerly as he swiped it from the holster.

The mugger didn't know much about guns, but this one didn't look cheap.

He rummaged through the other pockets, shivering as he brushed the boy's dead hand, which was beginning to grow cold. His fingers wrapped around something in the young man's pocket and he yanked it out hungrily. It appeared to be another wallet of some kind.

 _Bingo,_ he thought.

This wallet had no money in it. This was a set of credentials.

He squinted at the face in the picture, confirming it as the kid he just murdered.

He caught the letters F.B.I and swallowed thickly.

 _SSA Dr. Spencer Reid,_ he read. _Behavioural Analysis Unit._

The mugger threw the credentials onto the body and made a swift exit. He kept his head down, his bloody hands in his pockets, gripping onto the swag he got from the kid.

23 dollars.

SSA Dr. Spencer Reid lay bathed in his own blood, 26 holes in his torso...for the price of 23 dollars.

Enough to buy a bottle of vodka and two bottles of whiskey which the mugger took home to celebrate his achievement.

He sat in his warm house, his body cleaned of blood with fresh clothes adorning his living flesh. Spencer remained in the cold; his torn body continued to spew blood and his warm, sticky, crimson clothes hung to his pale flesh, barren of life.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm not leaving you there, that would be cruel. It's time to put a spin on things.**

* * *

A soft wind tickled over his back, disturbing the dark golden fur that covered his body. He shivered and curled in on himself, sighing when his tail brushed against his nose.

 _Tail!?_

Spencer pulled his eyes open and glared down. There was a tail. A long one with bristly gold hair. He sniffed it and yelped at how intense his sense of smell was. He stood up and realised he was stood on all fours. He glanced at his hands and feet, but he only saw four small furry paws.

 _It's just a dream. It's just a dream,_ he chanted in his head. He closed his eyes and waited a moment before looking down again. The four stumpy legs and fluffy feet still remained. He yelled out in shock, but instead of his voice coming from his mouth, a high pitched bark echoed through it.

He cowered backward, shivering in fear.

 _What's going on?_ He thought, his eyes darting about as he took in his new body parts.

 _I'm ... I'm a-a dog?!_ He thought, shaking his head disbelievingly.

 _No..no that's impossible!_ But it certainly looked real.

He cast his mind back to what had happened the night before, while he was still...him. He scoured his mind, desperate for answers regarding his current situation. His memory came back in distorted snippets.

 _Spencer walked down the street with his coffee, breathing in its strong delicious scent._

 _Something grabbed him by the neck, he was too stunned to grab his gun._

 _A knife entered his abdomen and he fell onto his back. The attacker collapsed atop of him and began stabbing the knife into him with a sadistic passion._

 _He remembered nothing more._

Spencer shivered at the memory.

 _Am I dead?_ He thought. He gazed around him and found that he was on a street corner and that everything suddenly seemed so big.

 _What's going on?_ He felt panic rising up inside him. He remembered dying, he recalled the pain and then nothing.

"Help!" He cried, but instead of words, a barking noise escaped his throat.

An older man walked by him and hurled a globule of spit at him. Spencer yelped and hopped back, pressing his small back into the wall.

"Vermin," the man hissed before carrying on his way. Spencer panted wildly and felt his long pink tongue hang from his mouth instinctively. Several other passersby ignored the golden brown puppy cowering against the wall.

 _Move,_ he said to himself. _Go to Hotch. Find Hotch, he'll know what to do,_ he thought.

He took a deep breath and stepped out into the sun. He skittered back when something dark loomed over him, but he soon realised it was only his shadow.

He trotted out, surprising himself with how easy it was to walk on 4 legs. He left a wide berth between him and the people walking along the street. He glanced up at the signs, if he knew where he was he could make it to Hotch's apartment.

"Aw, Mommy look! It's a puppy, Mommy!" Spencer looked up just in time to see a girl bending down in front of him, he shied away, watching her with wide, scared, brown eyes.

"Nala, don't touch it. You don't know what it could have," her mother snapped, bustling over. Spencer frowned and edged forward, sniffing the small girl's hand gently and nudging it with his head.

"Look, Mommy! She's nice! She likes me!"

 _She?_ Spencer thought as he licked the girl's small hand.

"Nala, No!" The girl's hand was yanked away and Spencer saw a much bigger one descend upon his snout. A sharp stinging danced up his face and he stumbled back with a whimper.

"Don't hurt her, Mommy!" Spencer avoided another hit and he started to run from the offending hand.

"It probably had fleas! It could have bitten you! come on, we're going to wash your hands." He heard the mother warn, but he didn't look back. He bounded along the street and avoided the passing humans who weren't as he remembered them when he was alive.

He saw a street sign and knew where to go.

* * *

"Jack, stop messing around. I need to get to work and Jessica needs to get you to school," Hotch said, picking up the school bag that Jack had left on the floor.

"I don't wanna go to school!" Jack whined.

"You're going and that's final," Hotch picked up the remote and went to turn off the TV when a news report caught his eye.

 _"-no witnesses yet, Carol, but the police have already launched an_ inquiry

 _"Reports say that the young_ 28-year-old _male was a victim of a mugging gone wrong. The identity of the victim is yet to be released." The newswoman turned to her partner. "The police say that the victim had 26 stab wounds."_

 _"We'd just like to take the time to warn people to remain vigilant until the assailant has been found and to stay in groups-"_

"Aaron? What happened to 'we're running late'?" Jessica smirked.

"Oh right, sorry," he turned off the TV. From the sound of it, they wouldn't be given that case. Although it was rare for a mugging to turn into full-blown murder, they weren't serial.

"Jack are you ready?" Hotch asked and Jack nodded through a mouthful of pop tart.

"I'll see you later, okay. Be good for Jessica-" he was interrupted by a faint scratching at the door.

"What's that?" Jack questioned.

"Whit there." Hotch wandered over to the door and unbolted it. He glanced out into the hall and frowned when he saw no one. A small bark brought his attention down to his feet where a small golden retriever puppy was sat, wagging his tail. His fur seemed darker than a normal golden retriever and his eyes were a mixture of browns. He cocked his head and barked again.

"What the-"

"A puppy!" Jack cried, falling to his knees and grabbing the puppy. Spencer let the boy embrace him and licked his face happily.

 _This is what dogs do, right?_ He finally felt loved after the reception he'd received when he first woke up.

"Can we keep him, Dad?" Jack begged. The puppy jumped up and licked Jack's cheek, his tail wagging vigorously as Jack ran his hand over his fur.

"I-I-"

"What's going on, Aaron?"

"I don't know?" Hotch scratched his head and knelt in front of the puppy. Spencer turned and hopped into Hotch's lap, rubbing his head against his bosses suit.

"Where did you come from, boy?" Hotch checked for a collar but found none.

"Please, can we keep him!?" Pleaded Jack. Hotch stroked the puppy's face and he melted into the touch. He looked from Jack to Jessica and sighed.

"You guys should be going. I'll deal with the puppy."

"Don't send him away!" Jack moaned.

"I won't, we'll discuss this later. You guys are going to be late. Go on."

Jack and Jessica left a little reluctantly. Hotch turned to the puppy.

"What am I going to do with you?" The puppy ran around in a circle and yapped happily. His hazel eyes kept darting at the wall and Hotch looked to where he was staring. He saw the clock and gasped.

"Shit! I'm late. Uh...if I leave you here you better not destroy anything till I'm back," Hotch warned and the puppy 's tail continued to beat against the floor. Hotch grabbed a newspaper and layed it on the floor, before quickly filling up a bowl of water and another of cat biscuits (from the cat that came to their windowsill which Jack enjoyed feeding.)

"Right. Do your business on that and you can eat that until I get something else," Hotch instructed as if the puppy could understand him. "When I get back we will decide what to do with you." With that, he grabbed his suit jacket and readjusted his tie before hurrying from the apartment.

* * *

The best thing about being 30 centimeters tall was that Spencer could sneak anywhere unnoticed. Somehow he managed to worm himself into the back seat of Hotch car, after having crept out of the apartment behind Hotch and hopping in Hotch's car door when his neighbor had said hi.

He didn't make a sound as Hotch drove to the BAU. He listened quietly to Hotch grumble about being late.

When they finally stopped Hotch opened his door and made the mistake of leaving it open too long and allowing the small puppy to jump out. Spencer followed at his bosses heels until they got to the door.

"Sir, is...uh is that your dog?" Hotch frowned and glanced around. Behind him just a few feet away stood the little golden brown puppy, his tail wagging shyly.

"Uh. Yes. Yes, he is." Hotch picked up the puppy and cursed himself for his unprofessionalism. He couldn't take the dog home, he was already astronomically late.

"Oh, right sorry. It's just usually we don't let dogs in," the guard said awkwardly.

"Oh, well, this one is training to be a...police dog."

"Really? I thought they used German Shepard for that?" The guard said, scratching his head.

"Not necessarily. And, well, this little guy is pretty special. He needs to learn the sort of environments he will be dealing with. So if you don't mind," Hotch said forcefully and the guard didn't argue.

"Good luck, sir," the guard called from behind. Hotch looked down at the puppy in his arms.

"You are going to get me in so much trouble," he mumbled, the puppy licked his nose mischievously.

* * *

"Uh...Hotch? You...uh," Morgan chuckled a little, "you seem to have a...uh puppy. Did you know that?"

"Thank you for your observation, Morgan," Hotch grumbled.

"Why are you so late, Aaro- Why have you got a dog?" Rossi asked, coming out of his office.

"It's a long story."

"We've been slaving away on these files and you've been out puppy shopping!?" Emily gasped. "That's not very fair, sir."

"Here," Morgan held out a hand for Emily's extra folders. "I'll sneak those into Pretty Boy's stack, this is his punishment for being late." Morgan shuffled a big portion of his and Emily's files into Spencer's smaller pile, which he had worked on most of the night, leaving half an hour after Hotch.

"Where is Reid?" Hotch asked.

"We asked you a question first. Why have you got a puppy?" Morgan laughed.

"A PUPPY!?" Garcia shrieked, she ran as best she could in heels and halted in front of Hotch nabbing the puppy from his hands. "Aw! He's so adorable! Where can I get one?" She cooed, lifting the dog up in front of her face. Spencer couldn't help but smile and lick her nose gently. "AHHH!"

"Careful, we don't know where he's from. He was just sat outside my door this morning," Hotch explained.

"Of your apartment?"Hotch nodded.

"Okay, but how did he get here?" JJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He followed me! I'm not kidding. I walked through the car park and the security guard noticed him following me."

"Aren't you a smart little puppy? Yes, you are!" Garcia grinned, peppering the dog with small kisses.

"Don't get attached. I'm not sure if we're keeping him," Hotch added and Garcia gaped at him.

"Well if you don't I will," she jibbed.

"So where's Reid?" Hotch asked, hastily changing the subject to save his embarrassment. Morgan shrugged.

"Beats me. He stayed pretty late yesterday, didn't he? Maybe he just woke up late."

"But it's not like him to be this late," Hotch mused.

"And it's not like you to be this late, either,' chuckled Rossi.

"Have you guys tried to call him?"

"I will now," JJ added.

"Do we have any cases?" Emily asked, standing up and stoking the excited puppy.

"Not that I know of."

"Did you see the report on the news this morning?" Hotch asked. Rossi took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yea, it sounded pretty bad, but I don't think they'll need us. It's just another mugging gone wrong," Rossi shrugged it off, it wasn't like he needed to worry about it.

"If they find the Unsub. We might have to assist if the guy isn't caught soon. 23 stab wounds seems a little overkill for a mugging."

Emily put the puppy on Reid's desk and he started nuzzling the book spines curiously.

"You can't get rid of him, Hotch," she said as the puppy bit down on a book corner and started pulling. Spencer was desperately trying to send them a message, but none of them seemed to notice.

Morgan saw a pair of officers enter through the glass doors and was about to say something when JJ cut in.

"He's not answering. Either he slept through his alarm or he put his phone in the dishwasher again," JJ said with a grin.

"Don't eat that, puppy," Garcia chided, tapping the puppy's nose lightly as he tried to pull Reid's book out. The puppy cowered flat on his stomach, terrified of being hit like he had on his way to Hotch. "Oh, I'm sorry, Puppy. But if my Boy Genius finds out we let you eat his books he won't be happy."

"Uh guys," Morgan muttered, motioning to the officers who seemed to be heading for them. The team stopped chatting and turned to watch the officers.

They stopped in front of the team and looked at Hotch.

"Agent Hotchner?" The taller one asked.

"Yes," Hotch looked from one to the other, not liking the gentle tone of his voice.

"I'm Deputy Cusick and this is Officer Ellis. We're working on the recent homicide case a few blocks from here," the taller one explained.

"What is it? Do you need us on the case?" Rossi queried, but something told him that's not why they were there.

"No, sir. We aren't here for that."

"Then why are you here?" Garcia said, her voice shook a little. The puppy remained flat on his stomach, waiting for the dreaded words.

"We identified the victim. He had a set of credentials on him."

"No," Emily hissed shaking her head. "Stop."

"We were able to confirm the victim as SSA Dr. Spencer Reid."

"I'm sorry."

The bullpen fell into a deathly silence.

* * *

 **AHHH! I can't believe I just did that!**

 **This is only going to be a short story. 5 chapters at most. I don't think I could write much more about Spencer being dead.**

 **Please tell me what you thought in the reviews, and I'm sorry in advance for killing him, but it had to happen for this story to work.**

 **Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon.**

 **I'm going to go make a gingerbread house to cheer me up...**


	2. 6 agents

**(Disclaimer: I do not own CriminalMinds or its characters.)**

 **Thank you all for your reviews! I'm sorry I killed him off but it is an essential part of this story.**

 **This chapter was so hard to write because I kept going off on a tangent and having new ideas and I feel like it's rushed and...Urgh! I hope it's okay...**

 **Please review and share your thoughts with me.**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

 **Previously:**

" **We were able to confirm the victim as SSA Dr. Spencer Reid."**

 **"I'm sorry."**

 **The bullpen fell into a deathly silence.**

* * *

"What kind of sick joke is this?" Morgan growled. He stood up from his desk and glared around the room. "Come out Reid! Great prank, you win," Morgan yelled.

"Agent-"

"How much did he pay you?" Morgan asked, he stepped right up to the deputy and looked him dead in the eyes. The deputy looked away anxiously.

"Morgan...," Garcia whimpered. Morgan glanced back as Garcia staggered into a desk, breathing heavily. A sob racked her body and she collapsed into the woodwork, scaring the puppy who clambered back into the books.

"Baby girl?" Morgan was beside her in a second, stroking a hand down her back. "They're lying. I-it's just a joke," he said shakily. Garcia lifted her head and swallowed hard to hold back another sob.

"H-He wouldn't do th-that to us!" Garcia mumbled. Morgan stopped stroking her back, his hand falling limply to his side. He backed away from her and shook his head.

"He wouldn't die on us either! He wouldn't do _that_ to us! He can't!" Morgan shouted, his breathing becoming harsher.

"He was murdered, sir," officer Bates corrected and Morgan gritted his teeth angrily.

"Why?!" He Snarled and the officer hopped back in surprise.

"Morgan," Hotch warned, grabbing his agent's arm. Morgan yanked himself away from his superior, but his furious eyes softened.

"Why, Hotch?" He demanded. "He never did anything wrong..."

JJ stopped breathing for a moment and had to put her head between her legs to avoid a full blown panic attack.

"We...we were told to inform his family. Do any of you have an address or a phone number...?" Officer Bates asked.

Hotch took a deep shuddery breath and replied, "we will deal with that. Thank you, for letting us know." The men took that as their cue to leave.

"No, Hotch! Tell them to come back! They know where Reid is! He's not dead! He's not!" Croaked Morgan, his voice breaking more than once.

"Morgan," Hotch mumbled and his agent's brow dropped and he stormed to his desk, sweeping his hands across it, his files crashing to the floor. He grabbed his monitor, ready to throw it, when Hotch grabbed him and held his arms across his chest.

"Get off!" Morgan panted as he struggled against Hotch.

He dropped the monitor with a clatter and sank to his knees as a heart wrenching sob erupted from within him. Hotch kept his arms wrapped around the muscular agent.

"Oh God..."Emily put her hand over her mouth, her whole face turning paper white.

Garcia fell to the floor, sobbing painfully as a part of her heart broke apart. Rossi hurried over to her, hastily wiping the corners of his eyes before he reached down to take her arms.

"NO!" She screamed, pulling her arms from his and heaving out heavy sobs. Rossi left her on the floor, his fingers trembling as he turned his back on the team, holding a hand up to his face as his own breath hitched and a tear slithered down his cheek.

"Y-you r-rem-remember our-our p-prank war?" Morgan pleaded and Hotch could only look back at him with pitiful eyes.

"You know it's not that," Hotch muttered.

An almost animal cry escaped JJ's throat and she held her hands in front of her heart as if it were about to break; as if she were in great physical pain. Emily couldn't offer the blonde comfort. She was trying desperately to compartmentalise but small squeaks of emotion crawled from out of her mouth without warning. She touched the puppy's soft fur and let her tears fall onto his silky coat.

Spencer flinched at the touch and looked around at his shattered team. The rest of the office was silent, watching on in shock. Some of the other agents were wiping away tears and shaking their heads in disbelief.

"Conference room, now," Hotch ordered, sensing the many sets of eyes upon his grieving team and releasing a dazed Morgan.

"No, no, no, no," JJ mumbled when it finally hit her, getting louder with each 'no'. "No! No! NO! He...no!" She shrieked, she stood up and shook her head at Hotch. "It's not him. H-he's j-just late!"

"JJ, he's gone," Hotch whispered. JJ stepped up to him and pushed him.

"NO!" Fat tears rolled down her cheeks. "S-Spence can't be! He-he's t-too young." Hotch grabbed her by her arms and held her tight.

"Spencer is dead."

JJ backed away from him shaking her head desperately.

"Oh Spencer...oh, no, no. Boy wonder," Garcia was mumbling to herself as she slowly rocked back and forth. She was trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her by the news.

"You heard what they said," Hotch shouted a little too loudly. "He's dead! Reid is dead!" He bellowed and the team fell into a jittery silence.

Spencer gaped at Hotch. His tail was no longer wagging happily, it curled up between his legs as he cowered away from his boss.

 _I'm here,_ he thought, looking from one team member to another, praying that they'd notice something... anything. Spencer gazed at Morgan, but the agent had closed himself off.

"I need to get out of here," Morgan grunted. His eyes were wide and sad and staring out at nothing in particular.

"No, Derek, we need to talk about this-" Rossi started, his voice cracking a little.

"I can't. Not right now. I need-I've gotta go," Morgan staggered to his feet and hurried to the staircase before he could break down again.

"Conference room," Hotch repeated firmly.

* * *

Hotch stood at the window staring at the bland, black blinds that stood to attention, blocking him from the view of the bullpen. Through the gaps he could see Reid's desk. The majority of his team were sat behind him, crying, sobbing, falling apart and waiting for him to give them direction, waiting for him to fix their situation.

 _Nothing can fix this,_ Hotch thought bitterly.

He couldn't turn to face his team, instead he watched the bullpen with bated breath, imagining the Spencer Reid they knew and loved to be sat at his desk with a small, endearing crease in his brow while he skimmed through a book. Hotch let his eyes wander to one of the empty chairs sat around the table and saw Spencer sitting on the edge of the now deserted chair begging one of them to go with him to visit an exhibition that took 20 minutes for him to explain by which time they'd lost interest.

But Spencer wasn't there. In his seat sat a fidgety puppy, who was whining and glancing up at the team.

"Hotch?" Emily frowned at the far-away look in her bosses eye.

"I want to know what happened," he muttered to no one in particular.

"It's all over the news," Garcia whispered, a fresh wave of tears spilling from her eyes.

"26 stab wounds," JJ said and she had to swallow back the bile that rose in her throat.

"I don't want the media's version of events," Hotch Hissed back.

"Homicide will tell us...," Emily added.

"I, for one, don't want to know what he went through," Rossi grunted.

"Then what do you want?" Emily snapped, channeling her built up anger into the question.

"I want you to tell me that he's going to walk through those doors just like you did!" Rossi implored. "Tell me he's alive; tell me he's alright..." Rossi's voice died away as he finally broke into sobs. He quickly quelled them and the team didn't speak until he was sufficiently calm.

"I've already lost one son. I can't lose another. I can't..."

Hotch looked away from the deverstated man in front of him, pushing down his own emotions. He too had seen Spencer as a surrogate son, he'd tried to teach the kid anything he didn't know, which was very little. The same could be said about Gideon who spent hours playing chess with Reid. Rossi had taken Gideon's role, and with Spencer being so close to Rossi's son's age, it was inevitable that they would share a close bond.

"I don't think I can talk about this anymore," stammered JJ, shaking her head wildly.

Spencer took this as his opportunity to make himself known again, he hopped out of his normal seat, which the team had avoided like the plague, and onto the round table. He avoided his boss's eyes because he was ashamed of standing on the table. _So unprofessional,_ he thought to himself. The surface of the table was slippy and he almost slid right off if Garcia hadn't used her arms as a barricade.

"I wonder if Spencer would've liked you?" She mused as she tickled his nose and he wagged his tail impulsively.

"Well, he wouldn't have liked Spence, remember the Reid effect?" JJ added, her lips curling up, but her eyes remaining dull and sad.

"Oh, I'm sure this little guy would be an exception to that rule," Garcia smiled, running her fingers over Spencer's coat.

"We should name you," She said through a sniff and she attempted to smile at the puppy. The puppy's tail stilled and his ears flattened. _They don't understand,_ Spencer thought, _they can't tell it's me._

"We're not keeping him," Hotch deadpanned. The puppy whipped his small head around and whimpered.

"How can you say that?"

"How can you not, Garcia?" Hotch snapped. "It's a dog. Who cares?"

"I do!" Garcia blubbed, trying and failing to stop her tears.

"So do I," Emily glared at Hotch. "Come here, boy," she cooed to the puppy, who looked up curiously. Spencer couldn't help these little puppy traits, like cocking his head or wagging his tail. It felt strange to have a new body part that he could manoeuvre. He crept towards Emily on his belly and blinked thoughtfully at her. She stroked a finger over his head and he rubbed his face into her palm.

 _"It's me,"_ He tried to say, but all that came out was a high pitched yap.

"Good boy," Emily mumbled and she pulled him into her lap. She wrapped her arms around him and used his warmth for comfort, nussling her face into his back and letting her tears fall.

"S-see? He's a good c-coping mechanism," Garcia whispered in an attempt to sound cheery.

"I think we should call him Spencer," she suggested quietly, reaching out and stroking the puppy's nose.

"No."

"Bu-"

"No," Hotch repeated, looking Garcia dead in the eyes. A silence filled the room, broken by several occasional and uncontrollable sniffs.

"O-okay," Garcia muttered, her eyes brimming with tears once more.

"How about Arthur?" Emily suggested as the puppy looked at her with sad eyes. "He's a knight at our round table now."

Garcia shrugged ( very un-Garcia response.)

"Whatever," Rossi mumbled with a similar shrug, his head was not with it.

"You can name it what you want, but I'm not taking it home," Hotch hissed and he turned his back on them and stared at the blinds.

"I-I'll take him," Garcia offered, putting a soft hand on the puppy's back. Emily placed her hand gently on top of Garcia's and gave her a sad smile.

"Mind if I stay with you two?" She asked. She knew if she went home alone she would fall apart and she wasn't sure she could put herself back together.

"Please," Garcia sighed, the same thoughts echoing in her own mind.

"I think we should all take the rest of the day," came Hotch's disassociated voice. No-one argued.

"What about Morgan?" Rossi asked, trying to gain eye contact with the unit chief. Hotch kept his head lowered, but answered quietly.

"I'll wait for him here...if he comes back." The team stared at him, awaiting something more, but when he turned his back once again they knew there was nothing more to wait for. Garcia stood up a little unsteadily and clung to Emily's arm for support. JJ stood with them, her body trembling weakly.

"I want you all back here tomorrow if you can. And Garcia, I will need you to pull everything on Spencer's case."

"B-but it's not our c-case, sir?"

"This is more our case than any one else's. I-it's Spencer..." Hotch couldn't continue and concentrated on the blinds.

* * *

JJ hurried down the street, she knew where she was going, though part of her pleaded not to. She saw the police tape as she turned down the street and her heart stopped.

"Oh, Spencer," she sighed. She rounded on the alleyway and had to close her eyes and breath deeply. There was no body, but there was blood. Lots of blood. Too much blood for the person who spilled it to still be alive.

"It's real," she whispered to herself.

She looked down at the police tape and saw that flowers had been layed down as tribute. There was even a picture of Spencer smiling stood beside the dingy brick wall. _You don't belong here,_ she thought. She had no idea who left them or who left the picture, but it proved how much he was appreciated. By the way the two older police officers who were gaurding the scene looked, it was clear that Spencer was known amongst their local police department. They looked lost, staring off at the buildings opposite and trying to avoid looking down at the spot where one of their own agents had perished. They glanced at JJ and nodded with recognition, their eyes filled with sympathy.

She was about to turn away before she broke down in sobs when a soft hand fell onto her shoulder.

"I expected to see you here. Great minds think alike," the Italian smiled and looked on at the horrific scene where Spencer took his last breath.

"I-I...I needed confirmation," her voice hitched and she had to look away for a good minute.

"Yea, I don't blame ya. It's hard to believe. I talked to him just yesterday," Rossi looked at the blood and a convulsive shiver passed over him as he imagined Spencer's last night.

"He must've been so scared," JJ rasped. She thought about what he would've gone through the night before.

"He put up one hell of a fight," Rossi assured her, although he had no idea what actually happened that night.

"The last time I talked to him he started to go on about constellations and-and I can't remember what he said, Rossi," JJ admitted. "I rolled my eyes and told him he was rambling. I-if I-I has known th-that...that he-", she shook her head and Rossi wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't let yourself think like that. I can't even remember the last thing he told me," Rossi chuckled. "It had something to do with a fact about spaghetti." Rossi sighed.

"H-he was going to do so much more. Did you know he wanted kids? Imagine that, Spence as a Dad," she grinned.

"He would've been a great father. Heck, they would've been the luckiest kids in the world," lamented the older agent, eliciting a sob from JJ.

"I bet it's all just part of his big magic trick. He was getting pretty good at it," Rossi said with the hint of a smile. JJ laughed and wiped her eyes.

"Well, Spence, you really out did yourself this time," she murmured. Rossi shuffled forward and JJ noticed the bouquet of flowers in his hand. They were filled with oranges and whites and browns. Rossi put them in the centre of the growing collection and cleared his throat carefully.

"Fill your boots, young man," he whispered, finally allowing tears to fall freely. "Fill your boots." JJ fell to her knees beside him and took his hand.

They stayed there looking at the tributes and crying for the friend they'd lost.

* * *

Hotch punched in the number for Benningtons but after one ring he hung up, dropping the phone as if it were a ticking time bomb. He dropped his face in his hands and sighed. He saw Morgan stagger in and slump down at his desk, but he didn't make a move towards him.

Instead Hotch picked up his phone again and dialled another number.

"Jesica? I-I...I need you to take Jack home with you."

"Okay. Aaron, is something wrong?" Jessica asked seriously.

"Something's happened...I need to tell Jack, but not now...not yet."

"A-Aaron?"

"Please, j-just...please."

* * *

Emily unlocked Garcia's apartment and inhaled the strong smell of Garcia's perfume. Garcia, who had been holding the puppy close to her chest, slowly lowered herself onto the couch.

"Coffee?" Emily asked and Garcia shook her head.

"I-I can't believe it..."

Emily paused on her way to the kitchen and turned back into the lounge. Garcia looked up at her with puffy red eyes.

"I know," Emily mumbled and she sat next to Garcia and pulled her into a hug.

After a minute Spencer grew bored of the exchange and decided he'd had enough of the depressing mood of his friends. He shimmied under Garcia's arms and nuzzled their faces and they both laughed when his wet tongue tickled their cheeks.

He tried the entire night to get them to realise that he was Spencer. He jumped on his hind legs, but quickly fell onto his back and just caused them to smile and mollycoddle him. He tried to bark a message in morse code, but Emily ended up getting annoyed and smacked his backside lightly to scold him. He kept his mouth shut after that.

He eyed the scrabble set eagerly, but as soon as he jumped for it, Emily was pulling him away.

After several more attempts he was finally shut in the guest bedroom and given a nest of blankets to sleep on. He whined and scratched on the door for them to come back, but when the landing light was turned off he knew they'd gone to bed and that it was hopeless to keep trying.

He huffed and curled up in his blankets.

 _Tomorrow. I'll try tomorrow,_ he thought hopefully, closing his eyes and sleeping for the first time in his new body.

* * *

 **I'm not happy with this chapter... I'm sorry if it dropped off at the end, I was trying to write the happy bit and I just got some pretty bad news...I guess I should've written the happy bits first... sorry.**

 **Ironically the bad news is about my dog.**

 **Anyway, I'll stop moaning, thank you guys for reading, please leave a review, I'd really like to know what you thought about this chapter.**

 **Love you guys! See you soon!**


	3. 21 scrabble tiles

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Sorry for the delay. I don't have an excuse, I've just been really slow with my updates alongside my revision.**

 **Thank you guys for the reviews.**

 **Please review on this chapter, some big things are about to happen.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Spencer jolted awake to the sound Garcia and Emily's voices drifting under the door and he lept out of his blankets. He scratched the door and whined for their attention.

He also suddenly realised how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten for well over 32 hours.

The door opened sending him scrabbling under the bed.

"Hey, Hey, puppy. I didn't mean to frighten you," the dulcet tone of Garcia's voice wafted to his alert ears and he poked his nose out and glanced up.

Her eyes were still red and puffy, but she had a small smile gracing her lips.

"You must be hungry," she mumbled, rubbing a soft hand through his silky fur. He nodded in agreement and Garcia laughed. "You're pretty clever." Her smile fell as she was reminded of Spencer's intelligence. She stopped stroking him and wiped her face.

"It's not fair." She stood up and shuffled out, leaving the door open. Spencer cautiously padded out and saw a bowl of cat food on the floor. He hurried over and took a sniff, hopping back at the foul meaty smell wafting from it. Emily was watching him curiously.

"It's okay, Arthur, help yourself." Spencer looked back at the food and turned his nose up to it, pressing his backside into the floor and making sure his tail stopped wagging.

"I don't think he likes it."

Spencer peeked up at the voice when something dark caught his eye. A big black shadow loomed behind him and before he could jump out of the way a tallon jabbed into his unprotected puppy skin. He yelped helplessly and skittered back from the shadow.

"Sergio!" Emily cried, patting the cat on the back and causing him to glare up at her, before hissing at the puppy and digging into his food. Spencer watched with bated breath as the large cat tucked in, its narrowed eyes flicking back at the puppy every second or so.

"Don't mind him," Garcia cooed, picking the puppy up and setting him on the counter.

"Oh, come on, Pen. That's so unhygienic," Emily groaned.

"You sound just like Sp-" Garcia cut herself short her smile disappearing.

"Do you have any ham or meat or something?" Emily asked, changing the subject quickly before tears filled her own eyes.

Soon enough Spencer had his own makeshift meal on one of Garcia's purple plates, which he shamelessly licked clean. He was so absorbed in his meal that he didn't notice the girls pulling on their coats. He cocked his head as Emily laid out a piece of newspaper for him.

"What about Serg?" She asked and Garcia shrugged.

"He usually goes out through the window and lies in the sun all day." She looked down at the puppy and gave him her best attempt at a smile. "Be good, Arthur."

He watched them shut the door quietly and suddenly realised his mistake. He scampered to the door and began scratching on it wildly.

 _I have to be with my team,_ he thought, barking at the closed door. Sergio sized him up and seeing that he was of little threat he hopped out of the window.

Spencer looked from the door to the window and made a split second decision.

* * *

"I don't understand!" Hotch growled, slamming his fist into the table. Garcia didn't look up from the small pool of tears she was making on the roundtable.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Rossi mumbled simply. He looked away from the file Aaron had opened. Hotch delved into the file and yanked out the image of Spencer's dead body. He held it up in front of the Italian who looked away and swallowed thickly.

"Look at this, Dave! Look!" Rossi tore his eyes back to the image and his breath caught in his throat. The photo was a wide shot of the victim...Spencer. His shirt was torn and bloody revealing gaping wounds where a knife had bit into him. There was blood all around him, bathing him in its stickiness. His facial expression was unclear in the image, but his skin was an unearthly pale. "This has to be more than that!" Aaron snapped, ripping out another image and displaying it before the team, then another and another.

Morgan glanced down at the one that fell in front of him and his fists clenched unintentionally as tears threatened his well-preserved dignity. This photo was a close up of Spencer's face. Despite the trauma of the previous image, Reid appeared calm. His face had a serene look to it as if he was merely sleeping, however, the deathly whiteness of his skin disproved this theory. His eyes were closed, his long lashes glued shut forever. His mouth was slightly open, but not in fear. Morgan imagined Spencer closing his eyes and parting his lips to release one last breath into the world, before retreating into whatever came next. Morgan pushed the image away.

"Aaron, you have to accept that sometimes people don't have real reason. This guy just needed money an-" a knock on the conference room door cut Rossi short. Hotch gathered up the images before standing and unlocking it.

"What do you-" Aaron was lost for words when he saw the small puppy sat in Anderson's arms.

"Agent Hotchner. I'm sorry to bother you, Sir, but a security guard gave me this little guy and said you were training him?" Anderson looked up at Hotch a little skeptically. "He said he found him wandering around the entrance." Hotch took the dog and received a grateful lick for his troubles. Spencer felt heat rush to his cheeks, _stupid puppy instincts,_ he thought.

"I didn't know we had a dog training program here," Anderson added, rubbing his head.

"Uh...thanks," Hotch deadpanned and he went to shut the door when Anderson cleared his throat.

"Also, Sir, I just wanted to say...well, I'm sorry for your loss," he gulped and blinked rapidly. "Dr. Reid was a good agent. A good friend. We will all miss him," Anderson gave a curt nod and hurried off before Aaron could stutter out a reply. Hotch stood there for a moment, suddenly realising what an impact Reid had had on the whole department.

He turned back into the conference room and locked the door.

"Garcia."

Penelope's hands flew to her mouth and she rushed up to grab the dog.

"I don't know how he got here! I locked him in the apartment," she gasped, shaking her head at the puppy in bewilderment.

"He must have walked all the way here!" Emily's eyes widened.

"Yea right, I bet you snuck him in," Morgan snickered.

"No we didn't," Garcia snapped back harshly.

"Alright, easy, Mama."

"You're a persistent little mutt, aren't you," Rossi chuckled as he tickled the dog's ears. _Mutt?_ Spencer thought. He drew back his head, proclaiming himself to be more than a mere mutt.

"He must have walked at least 10 miles," Aaron put in. Spencer closed his eyes tiredly. He _had_ walked/run a fair distance, but he'd managed to sneak on a bus unseen for part of the trip. Even so, he felt fatigue weigh down on his small body and he nuzzled his face into Garcia's warm arms.

"I think he likes us," JJ said, Spencer noticed how little emotion there was in her voice, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he allowed Garcia's voice vibrations to lull him to sleep.

* * *

Spencer woke up to the sound of someone shouting. He found himself lay in Garcia's lap and so he poked his head over the table to see Morgan and Hotch having a standoff. His eyes widened and he glanced at the rest of the team who's faces had fresh tears running down them.

"-let him walk home!"

"I always do! When have you ever offered him a ride?!" Hotch snapped back, dodging Morgan's hands trying to push him back.

"Don't bring me into this! He always worked late; _you_ were last to see him!" Spencer cowered into Garcia. _They're arguing about me._

"Hotch couldn't have known..." Emily added shyly, gaining herself a glare from Morgan.

"Oh, well that's okay, then!" Morgan threw his hands up sarcastically before gritting his teeth again. "Spencer is dead because of this!"

"Calm down, Morgan," JJ yelled, putting her hand on his shoulder which he shrugged off angrily.

"I won't! Don't you understand tha-"

Spencer covered his ears with his paws and whimpered quietly. Garcia felt him tremble and ran her own quivering fingers through his golden brown fur.

 _This is a nightmare,_ she thought shaking her head and blocking out the angry shouts filling the room. _Just a nightma-_

They were all knocked from their thoughts and heated arguments when there was a loud and urgent bang on the door.

Hotch glanced at his team who looked back with equal confusion.

He marched up to the door and unlocked it. Anderson was stood on the other side, wringing his hands nervously. 3 officers stood behind him.

"What now, Anderson?" Hotch huffed in a defeated tone.

"They found the Unsub, Sir," Anderson motioned to the officers stood behind him, their faces serious but filled with pride.

"DNA matches this guy to the fingerprints left on the victim-"

"Dr. Reid," Anderson quickly corrected and Hotch felt his chest tighten.

"Sorry. We tracked him down to a block of apartments less than a mile from the scene. We're currently working on a confession down at the station, but he's our guy." Morgan was beside Hotch now, their argument forgotten.

"I want to speak to him."

"Agent you-" Hotch shook his head at the officer cutting him short.

"We will come to the station. I'd like to hear what he has to say." The officer looked from Morgan to Hotch and nodded slowly.

"I'm coming too!" Emily called.

* * *

They stood on the other side of the window looking in at a rough man who was muttering to himself as he scratched his unkempt hair.

An officer stepped in and sat opposite the man. He paused to look at the officer before scratching at his scalp again.

"Do you know why you're here, Mr. Rouch."

"S'pose its 'cus I mugged that guy," the man mumbled with a sigh.

"You killed SSA Dr. Spencer Reid," the officer replied in a rough voice.

"I was defending myself." The officer laid out several pictures of Spencer showing the wounds he'd suffered.

"This is not self defence. This is murder." The man turned his face away from the pictures and started chewing his grubby fingernails.

"S'pose."

Hotch was about ready to smash the window and strangle him.

"I need a detailed account of Thursday night."

"Did you say, Doctor? He looked too young to be a doctor."

"He was also too young to die, you motherfucker," Emily hissed staring at the man with nothing but contempt.

The officer started asking questions about what Mr. Rouch had been doing prior to the attack. Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss leaned in when they started talking about what happened.

"Why did you target agent Reid?" The man shrugged and continued to glance around absentmindedly.

"Dunno, he dressed smart and I thought he'd have a decent amount on him."

"What did you do after you got him in the alley?"

"I was gonna just hit him a few times, real good ones, knock him out or somin' like that and then take his wallet. But I show him my knife and that I mean real business and he goes for this gun he has on his belt," the man explained. Morgan's knuckles turned white. "And so I goes at him with the knife and I keep going 'till he stops fighting." The officer didn't say anything, he too was trying to control his anger.

"Then a got what I came for; his wallet."

"How much did you take?" The officer asked and the man leaned back and laughed. Morgan bolted for the door, but Aaron grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"He only had $23!" The officer had to turn away quickly, a surge of anger pulsating through him. "If you asks me, it wasn't worth it; I only got a few bottles from it." The man looked at the pale officer and smiled wickedly taking a deep confident breath.

"Then found his other wallet and saw he was with the FBI, that's when I got outta there."

"You'll get life for this," the officer growled and the man chuckled again. Suddenly, the door sprung open. The man laughed as a woman ran in.

"Is this your backup? God, I thought that kid was easy, but this-"

 _Crack._

The man's head snapped back painfully as Emily's fist connected with his nose.

"You son of a bitch!" She screeched, going in for another successful hit and watching as blood flowed down the man's unwashed face.

"Prentiss!" Morgan dragged her away as she kicked and screamed.

"-de hell!" The man cried nasally as he tried to staunch the bleeding.

"Oh, this is Dr Reid's team," the officer smiled calmly.

"How could you-how! He is-...was 28!" Emily screamed.

The man just stared at the team in shock. Morgan and Hotch were practically snarling at him.

"Everyone dies, sweetheart," he said.

Hotch was on him in a second drawing his gun and pinning him against the wall by his neck. His finger hovered teasingly over the bullet.

"I could put a fucking bullet in you," Hotch hissed. "I know where to cause the most pain before you die," he traced the gun over the man's neck who was shivering in fear.

"D-don-don't."

"But that would be too good for you," Hotch whispered.

"P-please," he begged and Hotch straightened up, holstering his weapon.

"You're pathetic." He grabbed Emily's arm and guided her out before she started sobbing. The man who killed Spencer gaped at Morgan, his lips trembling.

"Burn in hell," Morgan spat before following his team.

* * *

"$23!" Hotch bellowed and the team jumped up from their seats in the bullpen.

"Huh?" JJ mumbled.

"23 fucking dollars! That's all Reid had! Th-that man killed him for $23!" Rossi covered his face and fell back into his chair.

"Oh, why did you fight him, Kid. You should've just given him the money," he groaned.

"He said he-"

"Please," pleaded Garcia. "I don't want to know what Spence went through before he..." she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, but Morgan nodded in understanding.

"It's okay, baby girl. All you need to know is that we didn't leave without giving him something to remember us by."

"Shit, Morgan, what did you do?" JJ asked, wincing slightly.

"Not me!" Garcia, Emily, and Rossi looked expectantly at Hotch who shook his head

"It was Emily who landed a nice fist in his face," Morgan announced.

"Two actually," Emily smirked.

"Good," Garcia said darkly. They were silent for a moment before a quiet growl caught their attention.

"Garcia! We said you could keep the dog, but you have to watch him!" Hotch yelled, looking on at the puppy who was tearing into Reid's books. Morgan looked up to see the animal ripping pages and setting them on the table.

"NO!" He shouted, making Spencer jump and drop the book he'd been dismantling. "Bad dog!" Morgan yelled, smacking a hard hand down onto Spencer's backside. Spencer cried out in pain and scrambled off the table. He fell clumsily into the floor, with a painful thud. "Get here! Stupid animal!" Morgan went in for another hit and Spencer skittered back.

He darted away from Morgan, whimpering as he went and saw a tiny gap between Emily's desk and the floor. He nose dived into the gap and shimmied beneath it. He got halfway and saw Emily's heels and pushed further, but suddenly, he found himself stuck.

"Derek, stop!" Garcia shouted as Morgan marched up to the puppy who was squirming beneath Emily's desk. Garcia grabbed Morgan's hand before he could hit the dog again. "STOP!"

Morgan looked around at Garcia, then back at his hand and then at the trembling puppy, whose backside was sticking out from under the desk. He lowered his hand and slumped back into his desk.

"You terrified him, Morgan," Emily chided, looking under her desk at the shivering puppy, who was desperately trying to work his way through. "It's okay, Arthur. Calm down, boy," she reassured, holding a hand out for him to lick. He didn't and continued to struggle, panting wildly.

"Wait there, Em. I-I'll lift it and you pull him out," Morgan offered, rubbing the back of his head guiltily.

"You're not going to hit him again, are you?" JJ asked snidely and Morgan shook his head with sincerity.

"I'm sorry... I... there's no excuse, I'm just so angry and those are...were Reid's books," Morgan hung his head.

JJ bit her lip and looked down at the floor. The puppy began to mew weakly and Morgan maneuvered around the desk, lifting the corner carefully. Spencer popped and and bounded over to Emily, hiding behind her foot.

"It's okay, Arthur," she soothed, gently running a finger up his snout. He flinched away at first, but seeing the guilt in Morgan's eyes he forced himself to calm down.

"Uh, guys," Garcia called. She was staring down at the tattered book.

"There's no point in trying to salvage it, Garcia. Just throw it away," Rossi replied, but Garcia didn't move.

"What is it, baby girl?" Morgan asked, looking down at the pages.

"Do you see what I see?" She queried.

"Uh? Puppy saliva and ripped pages?"

"No! The words! The words, Morgan," she insisted, pointing to the desk where the puppy had laid down some tearings. "You can read that right?"

Block letters from the title page and the introduction had been torn and placed together to form the words _'Spencer'_.

"Spencer?" Morgan read allowed. Spencer let out a loud bark which turned out to be a high pitched squeak. The team looked back at him and he wagged his tail eagerly.

"It's a sign," Garcia whispered. She looked up at the ceiling as if Spencer was watching over them. "He's still with us."

"You don't believe that crap, do you?" Morgan grumbled. He swept the ripped pages and what was left of the book into a trash can and Spencer yelped out.

"What is it, boy?" Emily asked the puppy sitting under her chair. Spencer glanced up at her, his eyes big and hopeful.

 _I have to do something,_ he thought. _I'm so close._

A thought suddenly came to him. He remembered when Rossi had gotten bored of chess and had brought out a scrabble set from his cupboard. Spencer could recall everything about the set, from the fact it has two 'A's and 1'X' missing, to the year it was made, but he only needed to know where the set was.

"I hope he isn't always that yappy," Rossi grunted, scowling at the dog. Spencer closed his mouth quickly, stemming the bark he had been working on. He peeked up at Rossi's office and saw the door was ajar. He knew this could be his only chance.

Spencer jumped out from behind Emily's legs and before the team could react he was sprinting towards the steps.

"What's gotten into him?" JJ questioned wearily. Aaron sighed and followed the puppy slowly, getting ready to grab him; _we really need to get him a leash,_ he thought.

Spencer saw Hotch making his way towards him and he pushed his small legs faster. He bounced up the first step then struggled up the next, all the while glancing back at his boss who was gaining on him.

"Arthur, come here, boy," Garcia called, but Spencer ignored her. He stumbled over the last step and scampered to Rossi's office, squeezing through the gap in the door. Hotch looked back at his team, many of whom were smiling at the cat and mouse chase.

"What are you doing, Aaron?! Catch him before he breaks something," chided Rossi who was already clambering up the stairs. He was about to open his office door when a crash resonated from within. "Oh, for god sake!" Rossi growled, ripping the door open and turning on the light.

The rest of the team were climbing the stairs to see the mess that the puppy had created.

A set of scrabble lay scattered across the floor and Spencer was nudging pieces together, quickly trying to form a sentence. The team watched the frenzied puppy attack the square letters and couldn't help smirking at the Italian who was looking on in dismay.

Spencer laid down his last tile and went to start another sentence when rough, warm hands lifted him away. _No, no, no,_ he thought desperately, kicking his legs out through the air. Spencer did the only thing he could think of; with a deep breath he lunged around and bit Rossi's hand. Not too hard, but enough to shock the Italian.

"Son of a bitch," Rossi yelled, dropping the puppy. Spencer tried to land on his feet but ended up hitting his head and landing on his front leg at an angle. He whimpered, but stumbled back to the scrabble tiles and attempted to finish his sentence.

"Did it break the skin?" Hotch asked, giving Rossi's hand a quick glance. There were teeth marks and a small puncture wound that was no more than a scratch.

"We need to get rid of that thing," Morgan growled. He marched towards the puppy who stood defensively in front of the scrabble tiles. Morgan lent down to grab him but Spencer snarled, showing his small puppy teeth. He barked and lifted his paw menacingly.

"-the hell," Morgan Hissed, carefully leaning over the puppy and looking at the mess. He couldn't help his eyes reading over the letters and his mouth dropped open.

"What's wrong?" Garcia looked down at the letters and yelped suddenly.

 _It's Spencer. I'm still here._

The puppy looked up at his team hopefully as they gazed down at what he'd written. _Please. Please. Please,_ he chanted.

"Spence?"

* * *

 **Yay! Has he gotten through to them?**

 **Sorry if it seemed rushed, I wanted to get this done so I could update 'Like a Family.' If you're reading that I will try and get a chapter out tomorrow.**

 **I'm sorry it took so long to write!**

 **Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts!**

 **Thank you all for reading!**


	4. 3 pages of explanation

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed.**

 **Thank you to Sarry22, tlcroft, Annamarie Joanne Lynnwood, Kas3y, Ludub, E. J. Morgan, blaircrazy1, and fire.ash.rebirth for reviewing chapter 3!**

 **Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I was really struggling with how to continue, but your reviews have really motivated me.**

 **Please review!**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"JJ? Are you delusional?" Morgan grunted, he pushed the tiles back, messing up their order and causing the puppy to yelp in shock. He quickly set about reconstructing the sentence.

"B-but...I didn't you just read tha-"

"Stop it!" Morgan snapped, fixing the girls with an aggressive look. "He's gone, okay. Stop...just- just let it be." The puppy nuzzled Morgan's jean leg and turned his head back to the scrabble tiles.

"Maybe this is how Reid is communicating with us," Emily mumbled.

"Don't you understand!? When someone dies they don't come back! Reid is no exception," Morgan growled. Rossi stared at the puppy who was nudging the tiles.

"Help..." Rossi read, turning his head to read the tiles. "I'm stuck."

The puppy barked eagerly, gazing up at Rossi before turning back to the tiles.

"Stop," Morgan grunted, stepping forward and kicking the tiles, sending Spencer's only hope soaring into the air. Spencer whipped around angrily and sunk his puppy teeth angrily into Morgan's pant leg, snarling aggressively. _He's ruining this,_ he thought.

"What the-"

"Morgan, calm down," Hotch ordered, taking a step forward. Morgan screwed his face up in and kicked out, striking the puppy in his side. Spencer released the fabric and gasped in pain. Staggering away; stars burst across his vision and he whimpered.

"DEREK!"Garcia cried and she fell to her knees beside Spencer who was panting in agony. He lay down on his side waiting for the pain to subside.

Spencer felt Garcia's gentle fingers touch his bruising ribs and he cowered away.

"Don't touch it, baby girl," Morgan warned. "It's turned nasty." the puppy whimpered and lowered his head submissively.

"Spencer?" Garcia mumbled and Spencer perked his ears up.

"Stop!" Morgan bellowed and Garcia glowered at him.

"Will you shut up! Can't you see you've done enough damage," Emily snapped, pushing Morgan out of the way. Garcia turned her attention back to the wincing puppy.

"Spencer, if you're here, give us a sign. Use the dog; do something, anything, please," she pleaded. Morgan shook his head but was hushed by Rossi. Spencer lifted his head and watched his team who were staring all around for a 'sign'.

He barked loudly and drew their attention back to him.

"Was that a 'sign'?" Morgan grunted sarcastically.

Spencer barked again and nudged Garcia's hand desperately. Garcia slowly raised her hand and looked at him.

"Uh... Bark once," she began, as if not knowing what to say, "for yes, twice for no." Spencer nodded his furry head and Garcia let loose a gasp.

"Is Spencer here, with us?" she asked. Spencer barked.

"Oh my God," JJ whispered.

"Reid. Spencer...if you are truly here...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this is my fault," Hotch said. The puppy looked up at him in bewilderment and shook his head. He barked twice paused and the barked twice again.

 _This is not your fault,_ Spencer thought.

"Is that a no?" Garcia asked and the dog barked once.

"Wait," Rossi narrowed his eyes at the puppy, kneeling down and offering it his hand. Spencer ignored the hand and stared intently at the Italian.

"Is...is that you, Spencer?" Spencer barked once in relief.

"No, no, that can't be real," Hotch muttered. Spencer barked again and looked at Hotch seriously. Hotch felt a shiver tremble down his spine at the look the puppy gave him. _Those eyes,_ he thought with disbelief _. No, he can't be, he just can't._

Rossi ran his hands across the carpet and quickly gathered the tiles, pushing them under Spencer's nose.

"Write something, Spencer," He murmered. Spencer gave a happy yap and started rummaging through the tiles.

"Rossi, how can that be-be... i-it's not possible," Prentiss stuttered.

"What explanation do you have?" Rossi snapped, glancing back sharply.

"But Spencer- He's dead," JJ whispered. Spencer paused mid sentence and looked up sadly at JJ. He restarted his sentence to say 'I'm sorry.' He sat down and waited for his team to see what he'd written.

"It has to be him!" Garcia cried, gaping down at the tiles. Spencer waited for them all to read it before reconstructing his previous sentence.

Rossi cocked his head and started reading it.

"I should've just...given him my wallet-," Rossi broke with a small sob that he quickly quelled.

"Oh, Spence," JJ whispered.

Morgan looked up from where he'd curled up in the corner, guilt radiating off of him.

Spencer nuzzled the tiles away and started arranging something new, but Rossi stopped him.

"Kid. I'm so sorry..." the Italian's voice broke and Spencer whimpered sadly.

"No, it's not your fault," Hotch said. "Spencer, I should've given you a lift home."

Spencer shook his small head and started pushing the tiles together.

 _I would've said no. Not your fault,_ he wrote.

"How is this...how-" Morgan breathed.

"I don't know..." Rossi muttered.

 _Sorry for biting you,_ Spencer spelled out and he pricked his ears up at Morgan.

Derek smirked and ruffled Spencer's fur.

"I'm sorry for kicking you. Are you okay?"

Spencer nodded, hiding the wince that tried to work its way onto his expression every time he shrugged. Morgan shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe this is happening," he whispered.

"At least he's still here... sort of," Garcia added cheerfully. Spencer barked in agreement.

"Reid, can you tell us what happened?" Hotch asked. Spencer nodded and started rearranging the tiles.

"No, wait. Spence, do you think you can type?" Garcia asked. Spencer pushed himself up on his front paws and his eyes took on a clouded expression, similar to how he used to look as a human when he got an idea. He nodded after a second. Without hesitation Garcia grabbed him, aggravating his sore ribs and stumbled from the room with him in her arms. She yanked open her office door and set Spencer on the desk. She pulled up her keyborad and opened a word document.

Spencer looked down at the keyboard skeptically and didn't notice his team fill the room.

"Tell us," Garcia urged. Spencer lifted his paw carefully and set it down on 'I'. He ended up typing three random letters because his paws were too big for they keys.

He felt his big eyes watering and he hung his head.

"It's okay, Spence, we'll think of something," JJ promised. Spencer glanced desperately around the desk and jumped to his feet with a yelp.

"What's he doing?" Morgan asked, his brow furrowing as he watched the puppy dart across the desk and steal one of Garcia's fluffy fairy pens. He slid out a piece of paper from the printer with his furry foot and angled himself so the pen was on the paper and it was secured between his teeth.

"He's still a genius then," Rossi chuckled.

Spencer rolled his eyes before concentrating on the paper. He squinted hard so he could see the pen scrawl over the once white paper. He readjusted his mouth on the pen several times before finally stepping back. The team waited patiently before taking it from him.

"You didn't have to write an essay," Emily mumbled with a smile and Spencer narrowed his eyes at her.

He dropped the pen and began coughing out the pink feathers that had worked their way into the back of his throat.

Rossi cleared his throat and read the paper aloud. Spencer watched him thoughtfully.

" _I didn't know he was following_ ," Rossi read Spencer's messy writing. As he read it, Spencer dragged out another piece of paper and began writing awkwardly again.

 _"He jumped me. I didn't see his face, Sorry_ ," Rossi paused and looked at the puppy who was already busy on a new note.

"Spencer, this is not your fault," he insisted.

" _I warned him to back off, but he had a knife_ ," Rossi swallowed thickly. JJ closed her eyes and tried not to imagine how scared Spencer was. A collective shiver went down the backs of the team.

" _He must have seen my gun,_ " the line ended, but Spencer had the next piece of paper waiting between his teeth. Hotch grabbed it before Rossi and skimmed his eyes over the page. He took a deep breath and read it out.

" _I felt the knife the first few times. But after a while it stopped. I don't know how many times he stabbed me, I think I counted 14 before everything went dark. It didn't hurt, honestly,_ " Garcia covered her mouth and wrapped her arms around the puppy.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," she sobbed and Spencer made a small unintelligible noise in return.

"There's more," Hotch muttered, rubbing the creases from the paper and waiting to have their attention.

 _"I woke up like this and I knew something was wrong..._ " Hotch's voice died away and he had to look down until his eyes stopped watering.

"How did this happen?" Morgan grunted, rubbing a rough hand over his sore face, which, though he'd refuse to admit it, had endured tears throughout the night.

Spencer tried his best to shrug, but it didn't work very well.

"The question is, what do we do?" Emily said.

"Obviously, he'll live with one of us," Rossi retorted. "I'm happy to offer my place-"

"He'd get lost in your house-"

"Ahem...mansion... khm" Rossi added.

"- _mansion,_ whereas, my place is a good size, plus me and pretty boy are used to sharing rooms."

"Oh really? What about Alaska. I'd ask Reid to quote, but I'm pretty sure it went along the lines of "I'm not sleeping with Reid"," Emily put in.

"Yea, well...that was different."

"Sure," she said sarcastically. "Besides, you and Rossi have big dogs."

"Big horny dogs," Garcia added.

"Exactly, Clooney would mount anything that breaths." Spencer's eyes widened and he hid behind his front paws. "The last thing we want is for Reid to get rape-"

"Okay, Fine!" Rossi and Morgan yelled in unison, having heard too much.

"What would you propose?" Mumbled Rossi.

"Jack was quite taken with him," Hotch said. Spencer lifted his nose with intrigue. _Is Hotch offering to take me in?_

Garcia opened her mouth, hoping to persuade Hotch otherwise, but she knew once he made his mind up there was no changing it. Spencer picked up the pen between his sharp puppy teeth and started writing on the paper again.

"Spencer, stop apologising!" JJ demanded. She took the now soggy pen from his mouth and stroked his face. Spencer leaned into her hand, thankful that they believed him.

For a moment he felt himself slip; a feeling of tranquility took over him and he closed his eyes. He saw a light behind his eyelids and he couldn't feel his four legs nor his new tail anymore.

He felt himself floating away when a voice called him back. Spencer opened his eyes and glanced around at a terrified looking team. He could feel his body once more and he realised he was lay down.

"Spencer?" JJ whispered. Spencer blinked at her and made a small noise. She sighed in relief, which was followed by a universal sigh from the team.

Spencer shivered and shook his head. _I'm not ready,_ he thought. _I can't leave. Not yet._

"You okay, Reid? You kinda... I dunno, passed out?" Morgan shrugged, his frown directed with worry at Spencer. Spencer nodded and barked happily, evoking a smile from his best friend.

 _I don't want to go,_ Spencer thought sadly. _I don't want to leave them yet._

* * *

 **Jeez! Sorry I've left this story so long! I have been swamped... I promise to be better, it's my New Years resolution.**

 **Please review... just don't have a go at me for not updating, but I would love to know what you think.**

 **Also if you want to know what was happening at the end, I'll give you an idea. Basically, Spencer is kind of on loan... he's stuck in the 'in-between.' Because of the manner of his murder, he cannot fully move on, he has unfinished busissness, part of this 'business' is that he never said goodbye to anyone. In that final scene Spencer feels at peace because the team now know and he was close to passing over... I know, it's sad, I don't want him to actually die.**

 **Anywho, I hope that explains it (and didn't confuse you even more) and I hope you enjoyed this chapters.**

 **Thanks for reviewing and I'll hopefully see you sooner than last time.**


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